Now That's Ridiculous
The Wall Street Journal says that a concert series is planned for the Hamptons this summer called Social that will have five shows; Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Dave Matthews, Prince, and James Taylor. You can't go to each show individually, you have to go to all five shows. And one seat for all five shows is $15,000. So the Gotham Gal and I would have to lay out $30,000 to do this. Not happening.
I think we are basically the target market for this. We love to go see live music. We' can afford the nutty ticket price. We've got a house on the east end and are there most every weekend in the summer.
But this is so far from what I'd ever associate myself with. It makes me sick. First the price. It's outrageous. Gatsby all over again.
And the acts? Prince is cool. I'd see DMB too. And Tom Petty is basically a rock god. But Billy Joel and James Taylor haven't done anything good in decades.
How about The Shins, Decemberists, Wilco, Josh Rouse, and Lucinda Williams the last three weekends in July and the first two weekends in August at Maidstone park for $500 total. Now that's a killer idea.
Social is silly. But I bet it works. It's the Hamptoons after all.
I'll take going to SXSW,Jazz Fest, the Rock boat, moe down and anyday over this. For 15K, I'd take a week off and follow my favorite band tour and still come out with 10K in pocket(sans any broken furniture ala mr Bonham, Paige, and Plant). This is so stupidly decadant that it seems hard to comprehend. Perhaps if it were going to charity I could see why but its not.
Posted by: kip | May 22, 2007 at 12:13 PM
Rock is dead, long... Never mind, you know what I'm talking about:-(
Posted by: Tony Alva | May 22, 2007 at 01:56 PM
Summerfest, in Milwaukee, last week of june/first week of July is $8 per day. Fried cheese, beer and music. 2007 lineup:
Steely Dan
Violent Feemes
Def Leppard/Styx/Foreigner
OAR
Blue Oyster Cult
Fuel
The Fray
Goo Goo Dolls
Ludacris
Sister Hazel
George Thorogood
The Wailers
John Mayer/Ben Fold/Brett Dennen
Buddy Guy
Weird Al
Tool
Black Crowes
Asia
Los Lonely Boys
Bon Jovi
Rusted Root
BB King
Bob Weir
Willy Porter and Keller Williams
Morris Day
Peter Frampton
Live
Papa Roach
Guster
Old 97s
Son Volt
GLove
Inxs
The Gufs
www.summerfest.com
Posted by: rick | May 22, 2007 at 10:23 PM
Man. A brass pass to JazzFest is only $350, too.
We paid full price for our two days this year, though.
Posted by: candice | May 22, 2007 at 10:50 PM
No one loves Tom more than Jackson, and I'd love to see Prince, so if I had to sit through James Taylor and Dave Mathews to see them, that'd be fine, but there's no way I'm gonna subject myself to the nausea induced by Billy Joel, so the 15 G's don't even enter into the equation really.
I'd pay that much to have Tom play my wedding though.
Posted by: jackson | May 23, 2007 at 01:26 AM
much as I love Prince (I've seen him in four countries so far) I can't justify that sort of money (heck, if I had that to burn on a weekend I'd probably be able to afford a new little red corvette! or at least spend it on my daughters college fund)
I draw the line at $1000/concert (eg for Prince that got us from midday to 5am) ... more than that is just silly unless it's a weekend at the guys place while he jams and makes lunch!
Posted by: OffBeatMammal | May 23, 2007 at 01:34 AM
中国肿瘤网 肺癌 肺癌症状 肺癌治疗 胃癌
Posted by: zhongliu | May 23, 2007 at 04:17 AM
"and I'd love to see Prince, so if I had to sit through James Taylor and Dave Mathews to see them, that'd be fine"
Ha! That hilarious because I would do the same.
Posted by: Raj | May 23, 2007 at 07:54 AM
Did anyone see Bob Lefsetz's post on this? PRICELESS!
He starts off by calling it "a clusterfuck of assholes who’ve gotten so rich they have to go to a tribal celebration of their good fortune in raping and pillaging the world," and then gets even more over-the-top. So funny.
Lefsetz Letter
Prince fans should know that he's been playing a tiny 500-person club in Vegas a couple of times per month since the Fall. Tix are like $150...$300 for table service, dinner, etc.
It is ridiculously awesome.
Posted by: Ethan Bauley | May 23, 2007 at 01:17 PM
I think it would be conceivable if it were going towards a charity in the end.
I hope some taper's shn or flacs pop out to the net. I would love to hear what a $3000 a seat concert sounds like. It better rub my feet as I listen.
Posted by: cyanbane | May 23, 2007 at 01:18 PM
Fred,
Vote with your attention - or attendence!
Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, Prince? Since you have the means, these guys are easily worth the $30k. So buy tickets for all five shows - and then do NOT give the tickets away - just don't show up for Talor and whoever else you said. If enough people pay but don't attend, the promoters will see that what they did was wrong.
They will say: "Why was Petty, DMB, and Prince standing room only while only 134 people showed up for Taylor and Joel."
Posted by: Jim Parker | May 31, 2007 at 11:33 AM